Brooder



H. L. CLARK Spt. 10, 1946.

BROODER Filed Jan. 6, 1944 gwwm @Za/T:

Patented Sept. 10, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BROODER Harvey L.Clark, Salem, Oreg. Application January 6, 1944, Serial No. 517,243

This invention relates to brooders.

An object of this invention is to provide a brooder having heat transfermeans therein for absorbing and transferring the body heat of the chicksso as to simulate as closely as possible the body heat of the motherhen.

Another object of this invention is to provide a brooder of simpleconstruction which can be readily cleaned, is of sturdy construction,and can be made at relatively small cost.

A further object of this invention is to provide a brooder for smallchicks which will permit the chicks to enter the interior thereof fromthe sides.

A further object of this invention is to provide a brooder whichcomprises a housing having top and bottom walls, supporting posts forthe top Wall, felt side and end walls, copper plates secured to theinner sides of the top and bottom walls, felt coverings for the metalplates and depending felt strips.

To the foregoing objects and others which may hereinafter appear, theinvention consists of the novel construction, combination andarrangement of parts as will be more specically referred to andillustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein is shown an embodimentof the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, Variationsand modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of theinvention as claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure l is an expanded perspective View of a brooder constructedaccording to an embodiment of this invention with portions cut away toshow the details of construction;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary detail view of one of the corners showing themeans for fastening the bottom and top parts of the brooder to eachother;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view; and is taken on the line 3-3of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing the numeral I designates the top wall of abrooder housing which, in the present instances, is rectangular in planand has secured thereto a plurality of upright supporting posts I I. Theposts I I are provided at their lower ends with downwardly openingsockets or recesses I3 within which positioning pins or dowels I 4carried by a bottom wall or iloor I5, are adapted to removably engage.

The brooder has flexible felt sidewalls I6 secured by fastening membersI'I to the opposite longitudinal edges of the top wall Ill. The sidewalls I 6 have openings I 6a by means of which 1 Claim. (Cl. 11B-33) thechicks can enter or leave `the brooder when v the side and end walls aredown. End felt walls i8 are also formed integral with the side walls itso that a felt side wall structure is provided by means of which thesmall chicks may readily enter the interior of the brooder structure.

The side walls IS adjacent the lower portions thereof are formed withflaps I9 and the end walls I8 may also be formed with similar aps. Theseflaps I9 are provided so that the chicks may push the aps inwardly inorder to gain entrance into the interior of the brooder.

The side and end walls Iii and I3 respectively overlap the bottom I5 andmay be secured by buttons 39. The felt side and end wall structure isadapted to be raised in `warm weather and held in raised position bymeans of buttons 20, or other suitable means, which may be secured tothe side walls I6. The lower portions ci the side Walls are formed withbutton holes 22 for engagement with the buttons 2t in order to hold theflaps and the lower portions oi the felt side wall structure in raisedposition.

A handle 2| is secured to the top wall Ill and provides a means wherebythe brooder can be shifted from place to place.

The top wall I Il has secured to the inner or lower side thereof aninner felt member 23. The felt member 23 has dependingly secured theretoa plurality of felt strips 24 which depend within -the interior of thebrooder and between which the chicks are adapted to engage, A copperplate 25 is interposed between the felt 23 and the lower side of the topwall III,

A lower felt wall 26 is disposed on the upper side of the bottom wall I5and a lower copper plate 21 is interposed between the felt 2B and theupper side of the bottom wall I5.

The lower felt 26 is preferably removable from the bottom wall, in orderto provide for cleaning thereof, and the outer corner portions of thefelt 25 are interposed between the lower ends of the supporting posts II and the upper side of the bottom wall I5. The bottom wall I5 isdetachably secured to the lower ends of the posts I I by means of hooks28 which are secured to the posts I I and which engage eyes 29 carriedby the bottom wall I5, there being a set of such hooks and eyes for yeach post.

A brooder has been constructed according to Y In the construction of thebrooder for best results the copper plates should be Very thin. Thestrips of felt hanging from the ceiling of the broeder should clear thefloor by about one-half inch. Securing the floor in the manner speciedmakes it easy to carry the brooder as a unit from place to place. Toclean and keep the brooder sanitary, the hooks can be released and thetop structure lifted o. The oor sheet of felt can then be easilyremoved, cleaned and turned, if desired The chicks make their own heatand those in the center who get too warm can move to the outside whilethose on the outside who may yfeel too cool can move towards the center.With `this brooder all hazards of loss from under heating, nre, gas orexplosions are eliminated, and le chicks raised are sturdieryhealthierand will feather out more quickly and uniformly. Y The legs for achicken brooder must be six inches but for turkey chicks the legs can belonger, say from eight to ten inches, if desired.

What I claim is: A brooder comprising a, housing formed of top 4 andbottom walls, corner posts for supporting said top wall above saidbottom wall, upwardly extending pins carried by said bottom wall, saidposts having sockets for receiving said pins, eyes carried by saidbottom wall, hooks carried by -said posts for releasably holding saidposts on said pins, felt side and end walls abo-ut said posts, each ofsaid side walls having at least a pair of upwardly extending slots ofsufficient size to provide chick entrances and the portions of the wallsbetween the slots on each side providing a swinging flap, meansreleasably securing said side and end walls to said bottom Wall, meanscarried by said side walls for holding said flaps inraised position, acopper plate secured to the lower side of said top wail, a second copperplate secured to the upper side of said bottom wall, a felt covering forsaid upper plate, depending felt strips carried by said upper feltcovering, and a lower felt covering for said lower plate. HARVEY L.CLARK.

